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Sir James Thornhill

7 of 14 portraits of Sir James Thornhill

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Sir James Thornhill

by John Faber Jr, after Joseph Highmore
mezzotint, 1732
Reference Collection
NPG D4688

Sitterback to top

  • Sir James Thornhill (1675 or 1676-1734), Father-in-law of William Hogarth, decorative painter and politician; MP for Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Sitter associated with 14 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 23 portraits.

Artistsback to top

  • John Faber Jr (circa 1695-1756), Engraver and portrait and miniature painter. Artist or producer associated with 818 portraits.
  • Joseph Highmore (1692-1780), Painter. Artist or producer associated with 54 portraits.

Related worksback to top

  • NPG D4689: Sir James Thornhill (from same plate)
  • NPG D19200: Sir James Thornhill (from same plate)
  • NPG D15203: Sir James Thornhill (from same plate)

Subject/Themeback to top

Events of 1732back to top

Current affairs

Secession Church formed in Scotland.
Widespread fraud and abuses in the customs service revealed. Prime Minister Robert Walpole responds with the Excise scheme, under which the tariff on wine and tobacco is to be replaced by an excise tax.
British Hat Act limits manufacturing in the British colonies, forcing colonists to buy imported British-made goods.

Art and science

Frederick, Prince of Wales attends a fancy-dress ball at Vauxhall Gardens, initiating its supremacy as London's most fashionable meeting place.
William Hogarth produces the first prints of A Harlot's Progress, having completed the painted series the previous year.
The original Covent Garden Theatre Royal (now the Royal Opera House) opens.

International

Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn is born.
Georgia in the American colonies is granted to a group of British philanthropists, to give debtors a new start in life.

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